Get Ahead Postgraduate Summer Programme 2016: Master Academic Writing

1. GET AHEADPOSTGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2016 Get Ahead in postgraduate writing ‘In my experience the most important thing is to write the way they want. You can write all kinds of stuff you know about, but you don’t get good marks unless you write it the proper way.’ Northedge,(2007: 245) Sara Steinkes.steinke@bbk.ac.uk

2. Aims • Importance of writing the way ‘they’ want • What is the ‘proper way’? - conventions of academic writing • The writing process • Writing an essay - analysing the question - writing introductory, main body and concluding paragraphs • Writing a dissertation

3. Why do you think writing gives students the most anxiety? • They have not written an essay in a long time. • They do not know what an academic essay looks like. • They miss deadlines as a result of poor time management. • They have no idea what is meant by an academic writing style. Answer: A, B, C and D

4. Importance of writing the way ‘they’ want? (Northedge, 2007: 246) • Deepens your learning • Develops your writing skills • Doing yourself justice • Enables the reader to understand your point of view • Strengthens your powers of self-expression • Major medium through which your progress is assessed

5. Importance of academic writing for PG study Postgraduate students are required to be independent, critical thinkers, and expected to contribute to the field of study This influences postgraduate writing in 4 ways: 1. critical thinking 2. research 3. academic integrity 4. academic style

6. Critical thinking • Think independently • Provide original perspective on previous research • Make connections between ideas/between your work and other research

7. Research • Become aware of the current knowledge in your field - deep and breadth - synthesise information - literature review • Expected to contribute personally to the knowledge in your field - creative thinking - presenting information in a new way, applying previous research to new problems, proving a thesis

8. Academic integrity • Give credit for intellectual property that you borrow - paraphrasing, summarising, quotes, referencing • Be familiar with intellectual property rights - opportunities to produce original work • Be aware of research ethics

9. What is academic English? What makes spoken or written English ‘academic’ is not the ideas, but the way the ideas are: presented - in a logical order, with evidence to support them, objectively expressed - using formal language, using specialist vocabulary, using words and phrases that are expected in writing at university

10. Formality • Write in complete sentences (noun and verb; capital letters and full stops) • Consider sentence structure and clauses - keep it simple • Avoid contractions (it’s) and abbreviations (eg) • Avoid slang and colloquial expressions (informal, spoken forms of language) • Avoid idioms and clichés (‘like the plague’)

11. Formality - example When I read the article I was shocked to realise that the cost of education is now so far out of reach for so many more people. The cost of education is now so far out of reach for 36% of the UK population, according to Smith (2006).

12. Objectivity • Academia is NOT about your opinion - it is about argument • Use neutral and impersonal tone • Avoid personal pronouns (I, you we) • Avoid emotional language and overstatements (amazing, terrible, !) • Avoid opinion adverbs (surprisingly, luckily) • Back up assertions with evidence (examples, references)

13. Objectivity - example I always consider Bach an objective artist. You can see that he worked only with the forms and ideas that his time offered him. I do not think he felt any inner compulsion to open out new paths. Bach can be considered an objective artist. He seems to have worked only with the forms and ideas that his time offered him, feeling no inner compulsion to open out new paths.

14. Be explicit and precise (1) • What is the purpose of this work? - explain what you intend to achieve, demonstrate or argue • What does the author mean by this? - define key concepts - if there are different definitions for the same term in the literature, explain which one you will adopt, and why • Where is the evidence for this? -ensure that every claim is supported by evidence

15. Be explicit and precise (2) • What is the author’s view about the issue? - take a position in relation to the issues • Avoid vague language - be specific • Avoid ‘persuader’ words (clearly, obviously) • Use precise information

16. Be explicit and precise - example The childcare was affordable. It took the Soviet Union a long time to recover from World War 2. By whose standards is childcare affordable? How are we defining ‘affordable’? What constitutes a ‘long time’? What is meant by ‘recover’?

17. Hedging • To be intentionally tentative/confidently uncertain - you know but you do not know for sure • Strategy for academic argumentation - makes your language less strong and therefore more difficult to dispute, so it makes your argument stronger

18. Hedging - example There is experimental work to show that a week or ten days is not long enough, and a fortnight to three weeks is the best theoretical period. There is experimental work to show that a week or ten days may not be long enough, and a fortnight to three weeks is probably the best theoretical period.

19. Stages of essay writing Cottrell (2008: 176-177)

20. A ‘good’ essay ... • Contains a logical structure • Uses effective introductory, main body and concluding paragraphing • Considers the reader • Includes evidence of research around the topic • Answers the question • Adheres to the style and presentation requirements • Incorporates quotes, summarising and paraphrasing • Includes accurate referencing • Displays evidence of critical analytical thinking, reading and writing

21. Understanding the question • Key verbs - instructional words which tell you how the question must be answered, they are command keywords • Other keywords - relating to topic - subject/topic word - place/location - time element Example Statethe main effects of migration in contemporaryBritain.

22. Writing introductory paragraphs • The ‘hook’ • 10% of word count • State title of essay in first line/establish link to question/explain the title/explain why the question is important/establish the field/give background information • Outline thesis statement • Narrow the field/have a particular focus/outline issues • Outline structure of essay

23. Thesis statement • tells the reader how you will interpret the significance • of the subject matter • is a road map for the paper- it tells the reader what to • expect from the rest of the paper • directly answers the question asked of you- is an • interpretation of a question/subject, not the subject • itself • makes a claim that others might dispute • is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first • paragraph that presents your argument to the reader

24. Writing main body paragraphs Topic (first)sentence: main idea of the paragraph Supporting sentence: gives details about/ explains topic sentence Concluding (last) sentence: repeats the main idea/gives final comment about topic • Topic • Expand • Example • Analysis

25. Writing concluding paragraphs • The clincher • 10% of word count • Summarise main arguments/themes • State general conclusions • Make it clear why conclusions are significant • Refer back to question/directly answer it • Make recommendations or suggest way forward/further research • Do not present new material/ideas in your conclusion

27. Dissertation structure

28. Useful reading for academic writing Biddam, J. (2014), Succeeding with your Master's Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Handbook(3rd edition) Cottrell, S. (2013) The Study Skills Handbook (4th edition) Crème, P. (1997) Writing at University Greetham, B. (2008) How to write better essays (2ndEdition) Hart, C. (2004), Doing Your Masters Dissertation Northedge, A. (2007) The Good Study Guide Peck, J. & Coyle, M. (2005) Write it Right: A Handbook for Students Redman P (2001) Good Essay Writing Rose, J. (2007) The Mature Students Guide to Writing (2nd edition)

29. Useful websites for academic writing Get ahead Stay ahead interactive tutorials http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead/writing http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay ahead/writing/structuring_writing http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead/writing/referencing Website supporting the Palgrave study skills books https://he.palgrave.com/studentstudyskills/page/Writing-and-Referencing/ Useful listening https://he.palgrave.com/studentstudyskills/resources/images/Write%20it%2 0Right_Tricks%20of%20the%20Trade%20edited%20v2.mp3 https://he.palgrave.com/studentstudyskills/resources/images/referencing.mp3 OU - range of help with academic skills, including writing http://www2.open.ac.uk/students/skillsforstudy/postgraduate-study-skills.php Royal Literary Fund - help with dissertation http://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/introduction-dissertation/

30. Recap • Importance of writing the way ‘they’ want • What is the ‘proper way’? - conventions of academic writing • The writing process • Writing an essay - analysing the question - writing introductory, main body and concluding paragraphs • Writing a dissertation